Blumenthal: Karen Hughes is "Bin Laden's little helper "

[highplainsdem]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1581655,00.html


Bin Laden's little helper

US administration lectures about God delivered to Muslims are a dangerous folly

Sidney Blumenthal
Friday September 30, 2005
The Guardian

<snip>

Hughes appeared as one of the pilgrims satirised by Mark Twain in his 1869 book Innocents Abroad, on his trip on the Grand Holy Land Pleasure Excursion. "None of us had ever been anywhere before; we all hailed from the interior; travel was a wild novelty... We always took care to make it understood that we were Americans - Americans!"

Hughes's simple, sincere and unadorned language reveals the administration's inner mind. Her ideas on terrorism and its solution are straightforward. "Terrorists," she said, "their policies force young people, other people's daughters and sons, to strap on bombs and blow themselves up." That is: somehow, magically, these evil-doers coerce the young to commit suicide. If only they would understand us, the tensions would dissolve.

"Many people around the world do not understand the important role that faith plays in Americans' lives," she said. When an Egyptian opposition leader inquired why Mr Bush mentions God in his speeches, Hughes asked him whether he was aware that "previous American presidents have also cited God, and that our constitution cites 'one nation under God'."

<snip>

With these well-meaning arguments, Hughes has provided the exact proofs for Bin Laden's claims about American motives. "It is stunning to the extent Hughes is helping bin Laden," says Robert Pape, a University of Chicago political scientist who has conducted extensive research into the motives of suicide terrorists and is the author of Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism. "If you set out to help bin Laden," he says, "you could not have done it better than Hughes."

<snip>


The column goes on to quote Pape in more detail on exactly how Hughes is helping bin Laden with statements Pape says would be "a folly" if they weren't "so dangerous."

[canichelouis]

1. Blunder, after blunder, after blunder

:grr:

[stevietheman]

11. Isn't it clear already? After four years of letting bin Laden...

roam free, it's no longer a wild thought to consider that the Bush administration and bin Laden are somehow working in collaboration. Note I say "consider"... I don't know if it's actually true.

[Melodybe]

12. kicked and nominated!!!

[tlsmith1963]

16. Exactly!

I suspect it, too. Religious fanatics stick together. It would explain why he doesn't seem to care about catching bin Laden. After all, the CIA *trained* bin Laden. They go back a ways.

Tammy

[dutchdemocrat]

28. Who's Free Here?

[Erika]

2. Yeah, she's inept and hurtful but W let her see the world

He's good to those who bow down to him three times a day.

[lcordero2]

4. bow down?

It's more like bent over.

[Lori Price CLG]

3. "...(Y)ou could not have done it better than Hughes."

"If you set out to help bin Laden," he says, "you could not have done it better than Hughes." <--Well, actually, Bush did it better by employing him.

Lori Price

[Jim Sagle]

33. Which "him"? Osama or Hughes?

;-)

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. What do you bet this little mission is quietly aborted by the weekend

And it is NEVER discussed by the MSM again.

[WildClarySage]

6. I think it's not so much ineptness and blundering...

the right wing has benefitted excessively from the warmongering and fears of terrorists. They are now battling a soured reputation thanks to Noe, DeLay, Frist, Rove, and other scandals and a nice terror alert these days might be seen by them as a saving grace. I just think they see this as a win/win situation, sending in someone to make Americans think they're trying to do something, and at the same time, doing something that is likely to fan the flames of terrorism.

[radwriter0555]

7. What makes you think Hughes' travels and idiotic words are innocent? She

was sent there as the well meaning stooge to stir up fury and ire in subtleties... just as laura bush caused such trouble when SHE went to liberate those poor middle eastern women... remember that? She was also ill received and came home crying.

This is not accidental nor a blunder. It's completely intentional.

[cosmicdot]

8. is Karen Huge, PR expert extraordinaire, handing out tote bags ...

with ExxonMobil key rings, mouse pads with Bu$h's face, Pat Robertson's weight-loss formula recipe, a Gropinator DVD, coffee mugs picturing Kindasleazy Rice and Mickey Mouse, a motivational poster picturing a kitty saying "Hang in There", etc.,;

and, maybe a book, such as ...

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1576753018.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

or
The New American Imperialism
Bush's War on Terror and Blood for Oil



...to help 'them' to understand us so that tensions will dissolve?


she's all plastic ... reminds me of faux corporate PR campaigns ... synergy, reengineering, teamwork, multi-tasking ...


if you looked this mindset in the eyes, you can see the back of their heads


wonder if tensions would dissolve, Karen, if we, i.e., took steps to "TVA" alternative energy ... or establish human rights not only as foreign policy (Pres. Carter), but also standards of ethics for American businesses doing business in others' countries ... just brainstorming here ...

[BrotherBuzz]

9. Is Hughes citing the Constitution of the Confederate States of America

The Constitution of the Confederate States of America does mention and invoke God (in its preamble), but I'm still searching for 'one nation under God' in my constitution. Any help?

[highplainsdem]

14. It isn't in the US Constitution.

Didn't think it was, but just to be sure I searched the text of the Constitution at http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Constitution.html . No mention of God, and no use of the words "divine" or "Creator" either.

But hey, you couldn't really expect anyone in the Bush administration to know the Constitution, could you? :sarcasm:

[hvn_nbr_2]

20. If I had a time for every time a wingnut falsely claimed ...

the constitution said "one nation under God" or other false claims about religion in the constitution, I'd have to worry about the estate tax.

[centristo]

21. it kind of explains everything

doesn't it?

[highplainsdem]

25. Yes, it does.

[dutchdemocrat]

29. God

The US Constitution makes no mention of God. And the omission was too obvious to have been anything but deliberate – as some of the key founders were Deists (Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Tom Paine as well as George Washington and James Madison). The Founding Fathers of the US were not religious men, and they fought hard to erect, in Thomas Jefferson's words, "a wall of separation between church and state." John Adams opined that if they were not restrained by legal measures, Puritans--the fundamentalists of their day--would "whip and crop, and pillory and roast."

In 1797 the US government concluded a "Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli, or Barbary," now known as the Treaty of Tripoli. Article 11 of the treaty contains these words:

As the Government of the United States...is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion--as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity of Musselmen--and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

Snipped and reworked from excellent article in The Nation

[highplainsdem]

30. Thanks for the link! What a great article!

[bustarbusto]

23. Nope, pledge of allegiance

"one nation under god" was inserted during the early cold war anti-communist hysteria of the 1950s. They were "godless", we "weren't", therefore we were just so much better.

bin Laden's little helper apparently hasn't done her civics homework.

[BrotherBuzz]

26. Well, I guess it's easy to confuse the two...

I mean, it's an easy mistake for Karen to make because she knows that both are in the news and separation of church and state is a hot-button issue, but it appears she got a little distracted. And speaking of distracting, I have come to the conclusion that Karen Hughes' job is not to improve the image of the United States abroad, but to improve the image of Bush* in the eyes of his 'base' because all her sound-bites appear to be tailored for domestic consumption only.

She knows the 'base', and she knows all the code words the white-wing fundies speak - she is sending cryptic messages to them. Expect the issue "One Nation under God" and the flag to become a front burner wedge issue in the run-up to the midterm elections.

On second thought, maybe the 'base' really thinks the 'Pledge of Allegiance' IS the constitution! Scary.

[ngGale]

10. And what a little helper Karen has been...

talk about culture shock. She represents every thing the Mid Eastern countries hate about us. Did she do it on purpose, maybe so.:crazy:

[mzteris]

13. "one nation under god"???????

In OUR Constitution????

:wtf:

I knew she was stupid - but THAT stupid?!?!

[Kolesar]

15. yeah, "faith" plays a big role in all the infidelity, stealing, and lying

...in the US. Too bad it is faith in a messianic *president, and not faith in moral, humanistic purposes as expoused by the religion he exploits.

[wtmusic]

17. It's amazing how often Mark Twain aphorisms show up

in discussion of this disastrous administration.

[highplainsdem]

27. Twain would have had so much to say about BushCo, and Garrison Keillor

thought so, too:

The party of Lincoln and Liberty was transmogrified into the party of hairy-backed swamp developers and corporate shills, faith-based economists, fundamentalist bullies with Bibles, Christians of convenience, freelance racists, misanthropic frat boys, shrieking midgets of AM radio, tax cheats, nihilists in golf pants, brownshirts in pinstripes, sweatshop tycoons, hacks, fakirs, aggressive dorks, Lamborghini libertarians, people who believe Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk was filmed in Roswell, New Mexico, little honkers out to diminish the rest of us, Newt’s evil spawn and their Etch-A-Sketch president, a dull and rigid man suspicious of the free flow of information and of secular institutions, whose philosophy is a jumble of badly sutured body parts trying to walk. Republicans: The No.1 reason the rest of the world thinks we’re deaf, dumb and dangerous.

Rich ironies abound! Lies pop up like toadstools in the forest! Wild swine crowd round the public trough! Outrageous gerrymandering! Pocket lining on a massive scale! Paid lobbyists sit in committee rooms and write legislation to alleviate the suffering of billionaires! Hypocrisies shine like cat turds in the moonlight! O Mark Twain, where art thou at this hour? Arise and behold the Gilded Age reincarnated gaudier than ever, upholding great wealth as the sure sign of Divine Grace.

http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/979/P280/

[Stephanie]

18. "our constitution cites 'one nation under God'."

Holy guacamole, bring that ignorant crackhead back to TX! I really think she is the MOST repulsive of the whole crew, except for the Chimp, of course. Something about her is just viscerally repugnant. Perhaps it is her ignorance.

[LynnTheDem]

19. Karen Hughs; STUPID MFer; "our constitution cites 'one nation under God'."

NO IT DOES NOT, you stupid MFing moran.

[JaneQPublic]

24. You mean the Pledge of Allegiance isn't in the Constitution?!?!

I'm sure the Bushbots believe the Ten Commandments are in there somewhere, too.

[bustarbusto]

22. Outstanding!

Blumenthal rocks. Only thing that's too bad is that he doesn't mention George I's leftover troops in Saudi as the main cause of 9/11, which it was, but you can't squeeze everything into one short opinion piece.

I've always thought that Bush was secretely working for bin Laden, whether he knows it or not.

[Nikki Stone 1]

31. Do these people have NO overseas experience?

Sounds like they are all clueless.

[mcscajun]

32. "Overseas? Isn't that where all them furriners live?"

:sarcasm:

They've no idea how to behave in public, much less abroad.

Ugh.